Construction at the Oloibiri Museum and Research Centre (OMPRC), Otuabagi, in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State is set to begin as the project promoters on Tuesday handed over the project site to Julius Berger, at a well-attended ceremony at the community town hall.

The event marked the completion of formalities and alignment of all key stakeholders, thus ensuring that the project would proceed without hitches at the exact location where oil production began in Nigeria in 1957.

Elated at the development, the project lead and Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, who was represented by Alhaji Abdulmalik Halilu, Director of Corporate Services said the multibillion-naira project, which consists of a world-class Oil and Gas Museum Centre and a Research Testing Centre, was in fulfilment of the expressed desire of the project promoters to place Otuabagi community, the location of Oloibiri Oil Well 1, on the world map.

He noted that the tradition worldwide has been to immortalise the beginnings of the oil and gas industry by citing projects of significant socio-economic worth in communities where exploitation and production of petroleum began, and that the project promoters, namely, Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), NCDMB, Shell Petroleum Development Company (now Renaissance Africa Energy Limited), and Bayelsa State Government, believe that the case of Nigeria did not have to be different.

Citing Pennsylvania, United States, reputed to be the birthplace of America’s oil industry, and a number of other cities across the world, he said: You see museums, research centres, tourist attractions,” among other things, as distinctive features that give deserved prominence and material benefits to such communities.

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 He disclosed that a governance structure has already been drawn up for the Museum Centre for efficient and effective management, and that the community would be given a sense of belonging at all times. He charged youths of the community to prepare to take advantage of training programmes to be provided in diverse skill sets.

The Executive Secretary commended the Otuabagi community, particularly its Stakeholder Committee led by Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Otuoke, Professor Teddy Adias, for the remarkable maturity and comportment exhibited during earlier disputes relating to the project location.

In his remarks, the Chief of Staff, Government House, Bayelsa State, Hon. Peter Akpe, who represented the Bayelsa State Government, said the handover ceremony signaled the transition from drawing board to action and that a project that had been long in the pipeline is finally coming to fruition. He commended the NCDMB and other promoters, as well as the community’s stakeholder committee, for their commitment thus far.

Earlier in a welcome address, the Chairman of the community’s Stakeholder Committee, Professor Adias, expressed appreciation to the project promoters for their efforts in actualising the project, which has been on the drawing board since 1981, during the administration of the then President Shehu Shagari.

Key features of the project concept include an Oil and Gas Museum, within which is a display of geological formations, platforms, early equipment and tools marking successive stages in the evolution of oil and gas operations in Nigeria, an interactive screen for digital engagement with professionals, students, tourists and historians across the globe in search of knowledge.

The Research Testing Centre, which is the second arm of the complex, will have an open field around one of the abandoned wells, where field trials of prototypes of oil- and gas-related indigenous research will be conducted, in fulfilment of the requirement for product acceptance in industrial application. It will also provide access to university students in oil- and gas-related disciplines to potentially appreciate an active oilfield.

Meiza Nigeria